Currently, when tiles are painted, the color of the glaze used bears almost no resemblance to the final color after the tile is fired in a kiln or furnace. It is very difficult for the painter to imagine the final product and get consistency from one tile to the next. Consequently, this process is extremely expensive today.
Many different factors affect the color of glaze after it is fired. First, the glazes are made of materials that significantly alter color when fired. For example, gold looks brown when it is painted on as a glaze. There are many factors that affect how the color will change. Such factors include glaze manufacturer, substrate color, temperature and length of firing, position in the kiln. All of these factors must be taken into account when deciding what compensation to make in order to arrive at a desired final or finished color of a tile after firing. In addition, glazes can be overlapped, applied several times, or applied unevenly in order to obtain a variation in the final color.
Thus, there is a need for an improved methodology and system for enabling consistent and repeatable determining of a final color for painting processes in which there is a color change from a starting color to a finished color.